Law on Lobbying in Russia: Pro et Contra

Abstract

With the formation of a newly democratic Russia with its increasingly developing market economy and business, the issue of legalising lobbying through the legislative process has become even more urgent. The author referred to the experience of some institutionally developed Western states. They used the legalisation of lobbying as one of the channels of aggregation and articulation of the interests of various groups and categories in society. It serves as a justification for such an important political step. The need for regulation in the field of lobbying is associated with the growing demand of social groups, primarily business, to have a direct institutional channel of communication and influence on the authorities Supporters of lobbying into a legal framework emphasise the most important role of the legalisation of lobbying as a tool to rid civilised lobbying of all kinds of criminogenic and illegal manifestations. Opponents say that the legalisation of lobbying is now the legalisation of corruption. The article examines the concept and essence of lobbyism, identifies the primary tasks for formalising civilisational, normal lobbying in the Russian Federation gives a brief historical background on this phenomenon in conjunction with the experience of legalisation in the United States.